Panels' Investigations Will Test Two State Politicians

April 12, 1997|By DAVID LIGHTMAN; Washington Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON — Scene one: The Senate. Joseph I. Lieberman, Connecticut's Democratic junior senator, and other senior members of the investigating committee leave a closed-door meeting Wednesday, announce they will subpoena both Republicans and Democrats in the campaign-finance controversy and say little more.

Scene two: The House. A five-hour meeting of this chamber's investigating committee Thursday turns into a slugfest, with Democrats charging they've been gagged and the chairman's integrity under fire. Meanwhile, Christopher Shays, Connecticut's Republican representative from the 4th District, brokers a deal so both parties can be investigated in the controversy -- and then defends his embattled chairman.

The two scenes this week may very well foreshadow how Congress' coming investigations of potential campaign finance abuses -- and Connecticut members' roles in the probes -- could unfold.

In the House investigation by the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, none of the 102 subpoenas issued thus far by Chairman Dan Burton, R-Ind., were for Republican documents. Nonetheless Shays, a senior committee member, who is trying to act as a bridge between two warring parties, assured reporters Burton will be fair. ``Dan will do a good job,'' he said.

He also insisted that because Burton can move more quickly than the Senate because he can issue subpoenas unilaterally, ``The Senate will ultimately discover very little about abuses in the executive branch.''

But to Ann McBride, president of the Washington- based watchdog group Common Cause, and others, the divergent moods in the two chambers told another story.

``I think the Senate hearings will be what people focus on,'' she said. ``The House will be a sideshow.''

Congress

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, whose chairman is Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., issued 10 subpoenas this week. It wants documents not only both from parties, but from six independent groups that may have been allied with the Republican Party.

Democrats protested in February when 63 subpoenas were issued and only two were related to Republicans. But a group of six committee members, three from each party, including Lieberman, met this week to find common ground. Any subpoenas issued will need bipartisan support.

Lieberman was upbeat. ``So far things have been very good. I'm impressed by Thompson,'' he said Friday. ``We've made clear we're not protecting either party.''

On the other side of Congress, about the only thing the House committee could agree on was when to meet -- or, more appropriately, what time the bell should ring for the first round of what became an occasionally ugly verbal brawl.

Shays had thought he worked out a compromise that would permit Republicans to be investigated. But Democrats found the agreement suspect, because Burton retained the power to issue subpoenas without anyone else's consent.

Giving him such power, they warned, would make the entire committee look foolish.

``Unless this investigation is perceived to be bipartisan, it will have no credibility,'' said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif.

When Democrats tried to strip Burton of that power, GOP committee members cut off debate. Shays was the only Republican to side with Democrats in voting to keep debate going.

But later, meeting with reporters, Shays defended Burton.

``I would fight to my death defending the ability of the chairman to issue subpoenas,'' he said, pointing out this is routinely done in Congress.

Burton could face bigger adversaries than Democrats. Mark A. Siegel, a lobbyist and Democratic activist, has contended that last year Burton said he would no longer deal with him unless he raised money for the chairman.

Shays is concerned about the report, saying that if the questions are not resolved soon, Burton should step down from managing the investigation.

But Shays also wondered why a federal grand jury is moving so quickly on Republicans.

``This is a typical Democratic tactic,'' he said. ``They went after Newt [Speaker Newt Gingrich, who admitted to ethics violations last year]. This is the way they work.''

The future

Both Shays and Lieberman will play prominent roles on their committees.

When hearings begin, probably in June, Lieberman will ask questions after Sen. John H. Glenn Jr., D- Ohio, known in Washington for a plodding style, and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who often quizzes witnesses with partisan fervor.

Lieberman will be closely watched. He is in line to be the committee's top Democrat -- chairman if the party wins a majority -- in the next Congress. As head of the moderate Democratic Leadership Council, the voice of the party's moderate wing, he is also viewed as a potential national figure of the future.

This is the kind of forum that could cement an image in the public mind for some time. Thompson, for instance, first won public notice in 1973 as Republican counsel to the Watergate committee.

Shays seems to have a tougher road. He, too, could be in line to be his party's top committee member soon; he now ranks fifth of 24. But as a moderate, he must be especially careful not to offend the more conservative members who run the House.

Shays vows that he is ready to investigate whatever lurks. The real problems, he said, are in the White House, and the House's ability to issue subpoenas quickly will make it easier to move quickly.

First, though, the committee has a different problem: Will anyone take it seriously?

``If the House investigation is to have a dime's worth of credibility, members must send the chairman a simple message,'' said Becky Cain, president of the national League of Women Voters.

Among the messages are to be fair, she said. In the meantime, ``The Senate investigation provides a good model.''